Winches for tensioning and paying out wire line or rope are well known in the marine industry. Deck hands use manual or powered winches to assist with tasks such a loading or unloading cargo or connecting two vessels together. Marine vessels may also maintain their position in relation to a mooring structure, such as a dock, by using winches.
The barge transportation industry uses winches to connect barges to each other in a barge tow and to connect the barge tow to a tow vessel. Each barge typically has two or four deck-mounted, manually-operated winches. A deck hand connects the winch line to a deck fitting on an adjacent barge and then ratchets the line tight, connecting the barges together. To disassemble the barge tow, the deck hand releases tension on the winch and pays out the line. A tow vessel typically connects to the rear of the barge tow in a similar manner. During transportation, deck hands may need to disassemble and reassemble the barge tow to pass through locks or navigate constricted waterways. Deck mounted winches may also secure a barge to a dock during loading or unloading operations.
In a typical winch, a geared drive mechanism typically rotates a winch drum to spool a wire line around the winch drum. As the drive mechanism rotates the winch drum, a winch locking gear, such as a pawl and ratchet gear, maintains tension on the winch line by preventing the winch drum from rotating in the opposite direction. Conventional manual winches use a hand wheel or bar shaped handle to turn the drive mechanism. For a long period of time, manual winches were operated primarily by a large spoked handwheel. The long spokes of the large handwheel provided locations for a winch operator to place both his hands and feet. The spokes provided large moment arms to assist with tightening the winch. For example, a winch operator might take up a majority of the winch line by spinning the spoked handwheel with only his hands. To finish tightening the winch to a desired line tension, the winch operator may attempt to rotate the winch by a few more teeth of the winch locking gear. To provide the leverage for the extra rotation, the winch operator may place both hands along the top of the handwheel and a foot against a spoke at the bottom of the handwheel to use his relatively stronger leg muscles to assist with the final tensioning. In this way the operator is both pulling with his arms and pushing with his leg to generate tension.
While use of the large spoked handwheel may be effective, it can be dangerous if used improperly. Accordingly, the winch industry has transitioned to solid handwheels. A solid handwheel is typically smaller than the spoked handwheel to conserve weight. The smaller handwheel diameter and solid design, however, make it difficult for a winch operator to generate even half the line tension as they were able to generate with a spoked handwheel.
In response, the winch industry relies on ratchets with long pipe extensions to generate the leverage necessary for the desired line tension. The pipe extension, however, is generally too long to leave in place during normal operation. Thus, the pipe extension is removed and stowed when not in use. Because the pipe extension is not fixed to the winch, for each tightening operation the operator locates and attaches the pipe extension, which adds extra time to the operation. Worse, the pipe extension may get lost. Furthermore, an operator often uses improper motion with the pipe extension, which can cause operators to overextend and suffer sometimes serious injuries.